We had the good fortune of connecting with Dan Popovic and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dan, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Making a difference and helping others!

One of my first ventures was a Health and Wellness Marketplace that used community events to get people outside and active. I used gamification mechanics and partnerships to reward healthy lifestyles, for example if you completed a set number of events you could get rewarded with a healthy product from a local merchant. I expanded this into a City Competition with the goal of highlighting great communities around the State of Georgia, but with the mindset on what can I do to get people outside in their communities and how can I reward them!

And with my most recent project, ClickChefs, which was launched during the pandemic when restaurants were closing. This was created to help Chefs, Food Entrepreneurs stay open, scale but most importantly connect with Consumers.

My thought process has always been to innovate in various spaces with the mindset of positively impacting that industry!

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
ClickChefs is a marketplace designed to connect consumers with local Chefs. Its been quite the evolution as we pivoted a few times. Previously we operated our own prepared meal delivery service in Atlanta. We had store front locations and then we went online. Fast forward 8 years later the pandemic hits and it was decided to take the platform and knowledge and scale it to help other Chefs and Food Entrepreneurs – this was August of 2020, we launched ClickChefs. We saw how costly the existing providers like Doordash and Ubereats were on restaurants. The commission fee’s were high, the delivery radius was small and the demand was unknown. We designed ClickChefs to solve all these issues to help Chefs, Restaurants and Food Entrepreneurs scale. The exciting thing about this platform is turning it into a social marketplace that directly connects consumers with their favorite Chefs. Its not to say it has not been a challenge, there is a lot of innovation happening in this space, but most of the innovation is around same day delivery. Our model is different that requires planning, which creates another challenge in helping the consumer understand they will get items days later, but that is not far removed from most of todays experiences with eCommerce ala Amazon.

What we want people to know about ClickChefs is it was designed by Food Entrepreneurs/Chefs to bring consumers a great experience and amazing food from local Chefs. We want them to have a personal experience!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh man – that is a hard one! For me, I am a Country, outdoor guy, love exploring North Georgia and everything it has to offer from towns like Helen, Dahlonega, Ellijay, Blue Ridge – etc! I can go on and on!

And all the wineries – some great ones like Ott Farms, Chateau Meichtry! It also depends on the time of year – fall is great! The apple festival and picking in Ellijay or Oktoberfest in Helen.

We have furkids, so our favorite is to venture out to the State Parks, Pet Friendly of Course. Go for a fun hike at SmithGALL Woods and follow that with a visit to JumpinGoat Coffee – they have a dog park and amazing view of the country-side.

And of course we can’t forget Lake Lanier – our favorite place to check out is Pelican Pete’s – fun atmosphere and best of all its on the lake. Another one is Maple Restaurant at Amicalola Falls, you can’t beat the views!

So the itinerary would include days trips to all these great locations, of course I would recommend renting a cool cabin that has a pool table and hot-tub to wind down to after a fun day of exploring!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My Father!

I lost him roughly 17 years ago but he taught me a lot and was an amazing entrepreneur himself. My senior year in High School he had me work a construction job, not just any construction job, aside from roofing, laying the foundation is the hardest part of construction. Its the start of something amazing, the foundation to any home or building supports the rest of the inspiration behind the development, without that foundation it crumbles down. I look back at the summer and can’t help but think about the valuable lesson that taught me as a person and a entrepreneur. Its hard work building the foundation, there is nothing glamorous about it, but its what leads to inspiration, design and longevity.

That summer changed me as a person, prior to that job I was very quiet, not all that athletic and overweight. I couldn’t lift the panels as I had not lifted a single weight prior. By the end of the summer, I had an amazing tan, was in the best shape of my life and was able to lift an 8FT panel directly over my head. Ever since that summer I have not stopped working out, went on to compete in Triathlons and just developed a passion for building the next best thing.

So thank you Dad!

Website: https://www.clickchefs.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-popovic/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNJzBai0IpVejlZV6l7bKfw

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